After holdup, employees fearful of crime

Folklore and Folklife Department Chairperson Kenneth Goldstein is scared. "I am fearful," Goldstein said yesterday. "I am fearful for my faculty and staff -- especially my female faculty." And the professor is not alone. In the wake of a gunpoint robbery at the Book Store, several administrators and faculty said yesterday that crime around the University has grown to dangerous proportions. And while some said that the University is doing all it can, a number of others said the University could hire more police and use Escort Services to take employees to trains or subway stops. Goldstein, whose office was moved to Market and 34th streets this year, said although his building is protected, University Police have not contacted him about improving security since the Book Store robbery. "We have classes here, some of which go on till 9:00 p.m.," he said, adding that the University should not ignore 3440 Market just because it does not own it. Director of Student Activities and Facilities Fran Walker said yesterday that the Book Store robbery did not increase her fears about security, but added that she is always careful when on campus. "I feel the same way that any sensible student feels," Walker said. "I need to be careful, I need to use escort, and I try to be watchful." Walker said she feels that the University has made great strides in improving security, and added that crime is inevitable at a school in a large city. "I don't know what the University can do," Walker said. "I think we are in an area where crime is a factor which you must consider." Walker, who said she stays in her Houston Hall office late four or five times a month, said she has never been threatened while walking to her car. But Estelle Walker, a secretary who works in the Franklin Building and generally leaves at 5 p.m., said she is "scared" to walk to 38th Street where her husband picks her up. Walker said that while the University distributes fliers and brochures giving safety tips and updates on crime, more improvements are needed. "We need more police," she said, although she added she does not believe the University could fit it into its budget. University Police, which has doubled its force over the past year, has also implemented two new programs designed to catch criminals, including adding plainclothes officers as part of the Crime Abatement Team. But despite these efforts and early successes for CAT, Shirley Vaughn, an administrative assistant in the Computer Resource Center -- located across from the Book Store -- said yesterday that she "feels very unsafe because we are located in the heart of West Philadelphia." Vaughn, who sometimes leaves the center after 5 p.m., said that she had her purse snatched "a couple of years ago," and since the incident, she has been more fearful for her safety. Vaughn said that, if security were more visible, it might deter crime and make her feel safer. The expansion of Escort Service to include special routes to and from subway stops would ease Vaughn's fears, she said. Beau Ances, undergraduate member of the Safety and Security Committee, said yesterday that "a lot of administrators" are fearful of crime and that the increased use of Escort Service is evidence of their fears.

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